Chicken and Spinach Soup

Finally we had a day with no rain! It has been soggy the last week with major flooding in areas around us. Thank goodness we didn't have to deal with any of that. It was chilly today and my first thought when I went to scrape the ice off the windshield was SOUP! I love soup. I could eat soup every day. I have done Weight Watchers off and on and this was a recipe I found on their website. One of the original ingredients is escarole.It is very difficult to find here where I live. So I substitute spinach. I love spinach in soup.




Here are some of the things you will need .

 

Dice 1 oz of the pancetta and fry it until crisp in a large stock pot or soup pot. Drain on a paper towel. You will be using this as a topping so set it aside.

Dice 1 onion and add it to the pan you fried the pancetta it. Add 4 cloves minced garlic. Let cook until golden brown. Add chicken broth and scrape the bits off the bottom of the pan.I rarely add raw onion to soups, they have much better flavor if you carmelize them a bit.

 

Add the chicken thighs, which you have removed the skin and all visible fat from. Also add the tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 30 minutes covered.

 

When chicken is tender, remove from soup, let cool and remove the meat from the bone. You can also use the boneless skinless thighs or even breasts to make this a little less work for yourself. I like the flavor of thighs and they are alot cheaper with the bone and skin on so I use those.

Add the meat to the soup, add 1 can drained cannellini beans, spices and fresh spinach. When the spinach is wilted, its ready to serve.

Top with pancetta and 1 tblsp parmesan cheese. I think you will like it!

Chicken and Spinach Soup

Servings 4 

Calories 325 

Fat 11 g

• 5 chicken thighs, skin and visible fat removed
• 1 onion diced
• 4 cloves garlic
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1 can italian stewed tomatoes
• 1 can cannillini beans (white kidney beans)
• 1 oz pancetta diced
• 1 10 oz package fresh spinach
• 2 Tbsp fresh basil or 1 tsp dried
• pinch of red pepper flakes
• salt and pepper to taste
• 4 Tbsp parmesan cheese

In a dutch oven or other large pot, fry pancetta until crisp. Remove and drain on paper towel. Add onion and garlic, cooking until golden brown approx 7 minutes. Ass broth, tomatoes and chicken. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until chicken is tender and cooked through about 30 minutes. Remove chicken, cool and remove from bone. Return to soup.

Add spinach, beans and spices. Return to a boil and cook until spinach is wilted. Sprinkle with crispy pancetta and 1 Tbsp of cheese. 1 3/4 cup serving size.